In some applications, e.g., oil and gas production, it may be desirable to collect data from along a particular interval (e.g., length, depth) of a wellbore to obtain information regarding pressure and/or temperature gradients within the wellbore by employing a number of sensors to measure pressure and/or temperature sensors distributed in an array extending substantially along the wellbore interval. When implemented in a downhole environment, the sensors and/or housings may be exposed to pressures up to about 30,000 psi (about 206.84 MPa) and temperatures of up to 200° C. Accordingly, housings of such sensors must be sufficiently robust to withstand such pressures and temperatures when in use.
In many conventional sensor arrays, optical fibers may be used as temperature and/or pressure sensors of the sensor array. In such a temperature and pressure sensing approach, optical fibers are implemented as linear sensors where temperature and/or pressure affects the light transmission in the optical fibers to create a continuous temperature and/or pressure profile of the downhole environment. However, optical fibers may fail to correctly transmit data if the fibers are bent (e.g., kinked) to a radius of curvature smaller than a certain fixed value, such value depending upon the fiber characteristics.
Furthermore, optical fibers may be relatively fragile and prone to failure under conditions where the fibers are subject to shock and vibration. Moreover, as the housings of such sensor arrays must withstand the extreme downhole conditions described above, particularly extreme pressures for prolonged time periods, methods of bonding individual constituent components of the sensor array must provide a sufficiently robust connection between the components to isolate and protect the fragile optical fibers. However, implementation of component bonding methods such as welding, which may provide a robust connection between components, may expose sensitive components of the sensor array to excessive, and potentially damaging, heat required by the welding process.
Further still, in situations where such arrays are implemented as arrays of pressure sensors, it may be required to at least partially expose the pressure sensors in the array to the pressure of the external environment (e.g., via a fluid within the sensor). Electrical conductors connecting each sensor of the array must be passed along the array past each pressure sensor. Thus, passing the electrical conductors past each pressure sensor may be difficult as such electrical conductors must be routed through or around portions of each sensor having housings that are equipped to handle the forces from pressures and temperatures of a downhole environment.